Literary Lights

The Writer's E-Zine Home

Writers' Village University - F2K: Free Fiction Writing Course - ePress-online
Writers' Village University Membership Information

Literary Lights

Priscilla Fagan

Style, thy Name is Metaphor?

The greatest thing in style is to have command of metaphor. Aristotle

The trademark of a good writer is the sometimes elusive metaphor which clearly shows what we see, hear, smell, feel, taste. Beware of the metaphor. It is the spirit of good prose. It gives the reader a picture, a glimpse of what the subject really looks like to the writer. It is dangerous, can easily get tangled and insistent, and more so when it almost works: don't have a violent explosion pave the way for a new growth. Sheridan Baker

What is a metaphor? Most dictionaries say it's a comparison between two things based on similarity without using the (similes) words like or as. Diomedes says it's, the transferring of things and words from their proper signification to an improper similitude for the sake of beauty, necessity, polish, or emphasis.

A good metaphor has three qualities: aptness, novelty, and simplicity. Don't force a comparison. A good metaphor is one that comes to you, not one you have to search out. Donald Hall advises, Try to activate the daydreaming mind. In other words, let your thoughts wander.

Metaphor is a writing device, which, if used correctly, illuminates the meaning 'not only of the thing at hand, but of the story and its theme.' If used incorrectly, it will fail to surprise and convince us. Pleasure in artistry comes precisely when the illusion rings true without, however, destroying the knowledge that is an illusion. In the same way, the techniques of every art offer us the tension of things that are and are not alike. This is true of poetry, in which rhyme is interesting because 'tend' sounds like 'mend' but not exactly like; it is true of music, whose interest lies in variations on a theme; of composition, where shapes and colors are balanced in asymmetry. And it is the fundamental nature of metaphor, from which literature derives. Janet Burroway

So, style, thy name is metaphor. Style, thy name is also, voice, dialogue, plot, character, setting, point of view. Style is unique to the author and when done correctly, all elements fitting together and telling a story that holds the reader, then you have polished fiction. A good style should show no sign of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident. W. Somerset Maugham

It's that simple. Jonathan Swift wrote, Proper words in proper places, make the true definition of a style. Or to use metaphor and simile: Style, like the human body, is specially beautiful when the veins are not prominent and the bones cannot be counted. Tacitus

I'll see you next month. I have to work on my optimism.

Priscilla